There’s a new ritual in New York. At 7PM people open their windows and show their appreciation to for those on the frontlines fighting the pandemic by cheering or clapping or making some sort of noise. This spread from Wuhan, just as the virus did. In times of crisis people want to connect no matter what culture they live in. I finally decided to join in. At 7 PM I opened my window and made noise my way, with a kazoo playing For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow. I was the only one doing anything. That was disappointing. I’m jealous of my Brooklyn friends. When I was a kid I sang it as “For he’s got sello.” I wish I could play a brass instrument. My neighbors could hear that even if I were the only one playing.
To someone with a hammer everything looks like a nail. I just saw a good example of that. On a thread about one political topic, the person decided that was the place to ride their hobby horse, while dismissing the importance of the topic discussed. Some people don’t get that their pet cause is not the only cause. Paul Krugman pointed out how many people’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to insist on arguing for exactly the same measures they were fighting for before COVID-19.
I told myself I wasn’t going to curmudge when I wrote today. So much for that resolution. At least I’m sticking to my resolve to gain acceptance of curmudge as a verb. Back-formations are a time-honored way of expanding the lexicon.
Last night I made perhaps my simplest culinary hack, cooking for those that can’t cook. I overbought Aldi frozen burgers, I thought I was out so bought another pack, then found the old ones hiding in the freezer. So that’s what I made last night. The hack is serving them on Aldi’s frozen garlic Texas toast. You don’t even need to put ketchup on them. I forgot to last night and was too lazy to get up and get it. I did put burger seasoning and cheese on them. Why isn’t serving burgers on garlic toast standard? The should never me served any other way. It also keeps away the vampires.
I’m on a strange Facebook group called “What If Memes But Ancient.” As you might guess it’s a nerdy crowd. We were asked to post a picture and introduce ourselves. This is what I came up with:
Hey, I’m Gordon and math teacher/jeopardy champ/Folk music facilitator/opera lover/freak/science/reader of LOTR 50 times/blogger. Hell, here’s my blog, https://wisemadness2.wordpress.com/ and I’m on folkmusicnotebook.com
I liked “Folk music facilitator;” that is probably the best description I’ve come up with for what I do. I do that which I’m capable of doing which needs to be done. If I ever get around to cards I might put that on it along with links to Wise Madness, the Budgiedome, and Folk Music Notebook.
I also made up a “Are you Gordon” Bingo game.
People objected to things I didn’t list things I shared with them. I was limited to 24 and I didn’t want to take too much time on it or have them be too inter-related. Here are some other passions and descriptors of me that I could have said.
- Superman
- Star Trek
- Bridge
- Chocolate
- Peanut Butter
- Bacon
- Coffee
- Poutine
- Muppets
- Warner Brothers Cartoons
- Democrat
- Liberal
- Curmudgeon
- Atheist
- Jewish (cultural)
- Trivia
- Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
- Doctor Who
- Paul Krugman
- Prog Rock
- Jazz
- Elizabeth Warren
- The Good Place
- Seinfeld
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- The Twilight Zone
- James Branch Cabell
- Isaac Asimov
- Arthur C. Clark
- On Your Radar
- WFUV
- Blogging
I could do this all day. I didn’t star listing individual musicians or many authors. If you know me in real life it’s likely because of several of the things on this list, the bingo game, or how I described myself on the Facebook group. You probably associate many of them with me. There will be some you didn’t know I love but that you do too. There’s a reason we are friends.
Wise Madness 